GLSA 200512-02: Webmin, Usermin: Format string vulnerability

http://security.gentoo.org/

Severity:	high
Title:	Webmin, Usermin: Format string vulnerability
Date:	12/07/2005
Bugs:	#113888
ID:	200512-02

Synopsis

Webmin and Usermin are vulnerable to a format string vulnerability which may lead to the execution of arbitrary code.

Background

Webmin is a web-based interface for Unix-like systems. Usermin is a simplified version of Webmin designed for use by normal users rather than system administrators.

Affected packages

Package	Vulnerable	Unaffected	Architecture(s)
app-admin/webmin	< 1.250	>= 1.250	All supported architectures
app-admin/usermin	< 1.180	>= 1.180	All supported architectures

Description

Jack Louis discovered that the Webmin and Usermin "miniserv.pl" web server component is vulnerable to a Perl format string vulnerability. Login with the supplied username is logged via the Perl "syslog" facility in an unsafe manner.

Impact

A remote attacker can trigger this vulnerability via a specially crafted username containing format string data. This can be exploited to consume a large amount of CPU and memory resources on a vulnerable system, and possibly to execute arbitrary code of the attacker's choice with the permissions of the user running Webmin.

Workaround

There is no known workaround at this time.

Resolution

All Webmin users should upgrade to the latest version:

    # emerge --sync
    # emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose ">=app-admin/webmin-1.250"

All Usermin users should upgrade to the latest version:


    # emerge --sync
    # emerge --ask --oneshot --verbose ">=app-admin/usermin-1.180"

References

Availability

This GLSA and any updates to it are available for viewing at the Gentoo Security Website: http://security.gentoo.org/glsa/glsa-200512-02.xml

Concerns?

Security is a primary focus of Gentoo Linux and ensuring the confidentiality and security of our users machines is of utmost importance to us. Any security concerns should be addressed to security@gentoo.org or alternatively, you may file a bug at https://bugs.gentoo.org.